Tonight the Islanders open a four-game road trip in Washington, as they take on the Capitals. Both teams are in the same predicament, tied for tenth in the conference and two points would move them into a tie with the Rangers for eighth. The Rangers are in Philly tonight, and the Islanders will follow by heading to Philly on Thursday.

For Washington, it’s been a rough ride so far this season as they opened the season with a bad 2-8-1 mark. Since then it’s been better for Washington and the Islanders are catching them at, potentially, a bad time. The Caps have won three in a row and five of seven, led by Alex Ovechkin who was missing in action for much of the year. Ovechkin has six goals in his last five games, after scoring ten in the previous 27. As Erik Hornick pointed out, it’s not always whom you play but when you play them, as Ovechkin was the NHL’s first star of the week last week.

For the Islanders, Evgeni Nabokov will once again be in net and the Islanders will sport the same lineup that earned them a 3-0 win over Florida on Sunday.